Cesilio and Christine Acosta of St. Charles have bigger things in mind for their Acosta's Consignment shop in the West Towne Market in St. Charles.

They'll have two locations, starting Tuesday, as the shop opens new digs in the former Amling's building in downtown St. Charles.

"The actual grand opening and ribbon cutting is Oct. 10, with the soft opening before that," said Diann Nemec while working at the 1920 W. Main St. location.

While Amling's as a single location at 116 E. Main St. closed in May, the consignment shop and flower shop will coexist in the location. The pairing of the two stores, with furniture on consignment and floral arrangements from Amling's filling the space, should be an interesting addition to the downtown.

Parking is available on the side of the building, as well as on nearby streets and public parking locations for those interested in visiting the new site.

Acosta's Consignment continues to do well because the furniture and accessories are "current classic style," Nemec said.

"We are getting a lot of consignments just on walk-ins," she added. "We benefit a lot by word-of-mouth."

Two new restaurants: Acosta's Consignment isn't the only shop at the West Towne Market thinking about new business.

The strip center on West Main Street has two new restaurants preparing to open soon (if they haven't already). "Opening Soon" signs were up for Macarena Tapas, a modern Spanish cuisine restaurant, and Pomodoro E Mozzarella Pizzeria E Grill.

Macarena is opening in the location that was formerly Fat Rosie's, a Mexican restaurant eatery. Before that, this spot at 1890 W. Main St. was a steakhouse.

Billboard of love: You have to give Emir Abinion credit. He knew how to grab his wife's attention on their 25th wedding anniversary. It's been more than a week now, but just in case you were wondering who would have a truck driven around St. Charles with a two-sided billboard display containing love messages, it was Abinion. Those messages were for his wife Pat in honor of their anniversary.

Abinion, the owner of Fox Valley Buick GMC in St. Charles, arranged for the truck to drive by La ZaZa's Trattoria in downtown St. Charles, where the couple were having dinner at a table near a window on the night of their anniversary.

The billboard has been used for advertising promotions for his various businesses, Abinion said. Either way, it was hard to miss.

"My wife doesn't like a lot of attention coming her way, so she was really surprised," he said. "She just said, 'The next time, just a card will be OK.'"

In the meantime, of course, everyone else in St. Charles was able to see it and enjoy the romantic bliss of such a notion.

D.C., just before the chaos: After all these years, I finally visited Washington, D.C. last week during a business trip. I didn't have a lot of time to visit, and the place was pretty much shut down by the stubborn blockheads who are supposed to run our government.

But I did walk the Pennsylvania Avenue route from the White House to Capitol Hill. When doing so, I was thinking to myself, at least now when they are showing things on TV taking place at these important and historic locations, I will know the layout of the area and have a better idea of what is taking place where.

Little did I know that just a few hours after I left, that same stretch of street on which I took a pleasant, leisurely walk would be all over the news.

A thought crossed my mind during the visit, one that I am sure others have had on Pennsylvania Avenue. What if someone just went crazy with a car outside the White House or Capitol and tried to ram through a gate or other barriers? I got the answer to that in less than 24 hours.

That thought, it turns out, became a reality for a lot of people who were doing the same thing I did the day before -- just taking in the sights and minding their own business.

Home on the range: Here's something you don't hear every day: Old cowboy songs. You know, the Roy Rogers, Gene Autry stuff.

We got a full dose, compliments of Rick Pickren, "The Singing Cowboy," during our visit to the Fall Family Fest at Arden Courts in Geneva last week.

Pickren is a resident of River Forest who strums a guitar, plays the harmonica and belts out songs like "Rawhide," "Oklahoma," "Ghost Riders in the Sky," and "Green Grow the Lilacs."

But his entertainment includes providing a history of the old singing cowboys -- where the tunes came from, and which states embrace some as their state songs.

Much to my wife's chagrin, the show left me yodeling, and saying I want to be a singing cowboy when I retire.

A wildlife visit: If you are fascinated by wildlife or have youngsters in your family who would like to learn more about the animals we share the land with, it's worth a visit to the Fox Valley Wildlife Center annual open house.

The free event takes place from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the center's Elburn Forest Preserve location.

A scary place: Christine Acosta got a plug at the beginning of this column for her consignment shop's expansion to a second location in St. Charles.

But she deserves another for the time and effort her family and friends put into creating "Acosta's Haunted House" at 38W207 Oak Drive in St. Charles.

Without a doubt, this place will get you in the Halloween mood.

The haunted house is open to visitors from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday for the next three weekends.

All of the money raised through the suggested donation of $5 from families or individuals goes to the LivingWell Cancer Resource Center.

Acosta has told me in the past that her family "just loves Halloween."

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